La Belle France
January 14, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
France, under its Socialist President Francois Hollande, has dispatched 400 troops backed by helicopter gunships and fighter aircraft to stop the advance of al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels in Mali. As Max Boot summarizes the situation: “While the United Nations passed toothless resolutions and the U.S. expressed concern but did nothing, France’s President, Francois Hollande, acted.” As part of its campaign, France has bombarded Gao, a major city controlled by the
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November 27, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, I mentioned the bitter fight to determine who will succeed Nicolas Sarkozy as leader of the UMP, France’s conservative party. At the time Jean-Francois Cope, the more conservative candidate, appeared to have defeated former Prime Minister (under Sarkozy) Francois Fillon by fewer than 1,000 votes, but Fillon had not recogized the result. A week later, Cope is officially the winner, but Fillon still doesn’t accept the result. And
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November 20, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
There has been plenty of speculation that France may become Europe’s next economic basket case. The Economist, for example, last week declared France a “time bomb at the heart of Europe.” The French government responded by calling the Economist’s crtique “sensationalist journalism” and claiming that it lacked “even-handedness.” However, Moody, presumably an even-handed, non-sensationalist outfit, has just downgraded France’s credit rating. It lowered the rating one notch, from Aaa to
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June 18, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Edward Jay Epstein is the author, most recently, of the ebook Three Days in May. He is an incomparable investigative journalist. In his new book, he explores the mysteries surrounding the highly consequential scandal in which Dominique Strauss-Kahn ensnared himself. I had dinner with Ed in New York on Friday night. After dinner, we stopped at one of the bars in the lobby of the Waldrof Astoria, where I was
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June 17, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Segolene Royal has lost her catfight, or whatever it was, with Valerie Trierweiler. As I mentioned yesterday, Royal was the long-time “companion” of France’s new president Francois Hollande, and the mother of his four children. An unsuccessful candidate for president in 2007, Royal ran for parliament this year with the expectation of becoming Speaker of the National Assembly. But Hollande’s new “companion,” the journalist Valerie Trierweiler, tweeted an endorsement of
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June 16, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
The French tend to view American politics with a mixture of bemusement and condescension. Yet French politics has a soap opera quality that America cannot match. And it’s not as if that politics is producing presidents that make one forget Charles de Gaulle. The latest soap opera installment involves France’s new president Francois Hollande and the parliamentary run-off elections being held this weekend. Hollande’s former long-time lover and the mother
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May 15, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Edward Jay Epstein writes on the occasion of the anniversary yesterday of the events giving rise to the disgrace of Dominique Strauss-Kahn: When Dominique Strauss-Kahn stepped out of the shower in his $3,000 a night suite at the Sofitel Hotel in New York one year ago May 14, he was fully on track to become the next President of France. As head of the International Monetary Fund he was now
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May 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
As expected, Socialist Francois Hollande has defeated incumbent president Nicloas Sarkozy. With half the vote counted, Holland leads 51-49. French polling agencies project that Hollande will end up capturing between 52 and 53 percent of the final vote. With so many factors working against him — above all, the economy — Sarkozy ended up running fairly well. But France nonetheless will be saddled with a Socialist president and, by most
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May 5, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
France is poised to elect Socialist Francois Hollande as its president this weekend. The latest blow to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy occurred when centrist Francois Bayrou, the fourth place finisher in the first round, announced that he would vote for Hollande. Bayrou said he would do so despite his opposition to Hollande’s pledge to back out of an EU agreement binding France to reduce its deficit. The centrist leader cited Sarkozy’s
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May 2, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
As expected, Marine Le Pen has declined to endorse Nicolas Sarkozy for president in Sunday’s run-off election. Her decision is probably the final nail in Sarkozy’s electoral coffin. Le Pen finished a strong third in the preliminary election, and support from her right-leaning voters is crucial to Sarkozy’s hopes of defeating Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande. Some have estimated that Sarkozy needs 80 percent of Le Pen’s vote. But polls
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May 1, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Edward Jay Epstein is the author of notable books including several that are derived in one way or another from his relationship with the late, legendary CIA counterintelligence chief James Jesus Angleton. He is also the author of the short, new e-book on l’affaire DSK that has just been published. In today’s New York Times, Joe Nocera devotes a good column to the book under the headline “Power, sex, and
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April 27, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
French unemployment has risen to 2.88 million, the largest number of unemployed since 1999. The unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent. This is the eleventh consecutive months in which the unemployment rate increased. Although it could be worse, Spain’s unemployment rate is 24.4, the French jobs picture seems dire enough to ensure the defeat of President Nicolas Sarkozy. Nor is this the only bad economic news. French household spending fell
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April 22, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
The French voters have winnowed a ten-person presidential field down to two – Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande (the first place finisher) and incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, who finished second. Ultra-nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen finished a very strong third. Here are the latest results that I have seen, rounded to the nearest half percent: Hollande – 29 percent Sarkozy – 26 percent Le Pen – 18. 5 percent Jean-Luc Mélenchon
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